Sociology Investigation

The Sociological Investigation These notes are taken and adapted from Macionis, John J. (2012). Sociology (14th Edition). capital of Massachusetts Pearson Education Inc. There are two basic requirements for sociological investigationKnow how to apply the sociological perspective or paradigms or what C. Wright mill more than or less termed as the sociological imagination. Be curious and ready to ask questions about the world around you. There are three ways to do Sociology. These three ways are considered as inquiry orientationsA. confident(p) Sociology Positivist sociology studies society by systematically observing social behaviour.Also known as scientific sociology.It includes introducing terms like independent variable, dependent variables, correlation, spurious correlation, control, replication, measuring stick, stupefy and effect, as well as operationalizing a variable1.Positivist sociology requires that looker carefully operationalize variables and ensuring that measur ement is both reliable and valid.It observes how variables are related and tries to establish cause-and-effect relationships. It sees an objective verity out there. Favours quantitative data (e. g. data in numbers data from eyeshots).Positivist sociology is well-suited to research in a laboratory.It demands that researchers be objective2 and suspend their personal determine and biases as they conduct research.There are at least FOUR limitations to scientific / positivist sociology.Positivist sociology is loosely linked to the structural-functional approach / paradigm / perspective.B. tiny Sociology Critical sociology uses research to bring about social change. It asks moral and political questions.It focuses on inequality.Specifying exactly what is to be measured before assigning a think of to a variable (Macionis 2012, p. 50).Personal neutrality in conducting research (Macionis 2012, p. 50)It rejects the principle of objectivity, claiming that all researches are political. C ritical sociology corresponds to the social-conflict approach / paradigm / perspective.C. Interpretive Sociology Interpretive sociology focuses on the meanings that people obligate to their behaviour. It sees reality as constructed by people in the course of their everyday lives.It favours qualitative data (e. g. data acquired through interviews).It is well-suited to research in a essential setting.Interpretive sociology is related to the symbolic-interaction approach / paradigm / perspective. sex activity and Research Gender3, involving both researcher and subjects, mess affect research in five waysAndrocentricity (literally, focus on the male)OvergeneralisingGender blindnessDouble standardsInterference Research Ethics researchers must consider and do the following things when conducting researchProtect the privacy of subjects / respondents.Obtain the intercommunicate consent of subjects / respondents.Indicate all sources of funding.Submit research to an institutional review board to visualize it does NOT violate ethical standards.There are global dimensions to research ethics.Before scratch line research in another country, an investigator must become familiar enough with that society to understand what people there are in all probability to regard as a violation of privacy or a source of personal danger.Research and the Hawthorne Effect Researchers need to be aware that subjects or respondents behaviour whitethorn change simply because they are getting peculiar(a) attention, as one classic experiment revealed. Refer to Elton Mayos investigation into worker productivity in a factory in Hawthorne, near Chicago. 3 The personal traits and social positions that members of a society attach to universe female or male (Macionis 2012, p. 50).The term Hawthorne Effect is specify as a change in a subjects behaviour caused simply by the awareness that s/he is being studied. Methods Strategies for Doing Sociological ResearchThere are the basic FOUR ordersA. Experiment This research system allows researchers to study cause-and-effect relationships between two or more variables in a controlled setting.Researchers conduct an experiment to test a hypothesis, a statement of a possible relationship between two (or more variables).This research regularity collects mostly quantitative data.Example of an experiment Philip Zimbardos Stanford County Prison. o Advantages Provides the greatest fortune to specify cause-and-effect relationships. Replication of research is relatively / quite easy. Limitations Laboratory settings induct an artificial quality to it. Unless the lab environment is carefully controlled, results may be biased too.B. Survey and/or Interview This research system uses questionnaires or interviews to gather subjects / respondents responses to a series of questions.Surveys usually damp or relieve oneself descriptive findings, painting a picture of peoples views on some issues.This research method collects mostly qualitat ive data.Example of a survey Lois Benjamins research on the effects of racism on African American men and women.She chose to interview subjects / respondents rather than distribute a questionnaire. o Advantages Sampling, victimisation questionnaires, allows researchers to conduct surveys of bountiful populations or a large number of people. Interviews provide in-depth responses. o Limitations Questionnaires must be carefully disposed(p) so that the questions and instructions are clear and not confusing. Questionnaires may yield low response / return rate from the target respondents. Interviews are pricy and time-consuming.C. Participant observation Through musician observation, researchers join with people in a social setting for an extended period of time.Researchers also wager two roles, as a participant (overt role) and as an observer (covert role).This method allows researchers an inside look at a social setting.This research method is also called fieldwork.Since researchers are not attempting to test a specific hypothesis, their research is exploratory and descriptive.This participant observation research method collects qualitative data.Example of participant observation William Foote Whytes Street Corner Society. o Advantages It allows for the study of natural behaviour. Usually inexpensive. o Limitations Time-consuming. Replication of research is difficult. Researcher must chemical equilibrium role of participant and observer.D. Existing or Secondary sources Researchers analyse breathing sources, data which had been collected by others.This research method is also called subroutine library research or archive research.By using existing or vicarious sources, especially the widely available data by government agencies, researchers can save time and money.Existing sources are the basis of historical research. Example of using existing sourcesE. Digby Baltzells award-winning study Puritan Boston and acquaintance Philadelphia. How could it be, Balt zell wondered, during a chance visit to Bowdein College in Maine, USA, that this small college had graduated more famous people in a single year than his own, a good deal bigger University of Pennsylvania had graduated in its entire history? o Advantages Saves time, money and effort of data collection. Makes historical research possible. o Limitations Researcher has no control over possible biases in data. Data may only partially fit current research needs.